1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a spin-stabilized payload-carrying projectile containing bomblets and fillers disposed between the bomblets and the housing of the projectile.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Such payload-carrying projectiles are described, for example, on page 113 of the magazine "Wehrtechnik" [Military Engineering], vol. 10/85. A corresponding bomblet-carrying projectile is also shown in FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,244.
In known bomblet-carrying projectiles the fillers are normally made of plastic or aluminum and are used for securing the bomblets inside the projectile as well as for imparting the spin of the payload-carrying projectile to the bomblets. The longitudinal and transverse moments of inertia of the payload-carrying projectile which determine the ballistic stability are in general determined in these projectiles by many quantities including: the mass of the bomblets, the projectile base, the housing of the payload-carrying projectile as well as the nose of the projectile and the ejection charge contained in the nose of the projectile. A spinning projectile is considered to be stable if an incident angle produced by a disturbance disappears again.
If the distribution of mass of the bomblet-carrying projectile mentioned above is changed by the use of a considerably thinner housing than the customary housing of a payload-carrying projectile (for example in order to contain larger bomblets in the payload-carrying projectile), a negative effect on the ballistic stability of the bomblet-carrying projectile can result. This is so, because a change of the distribution of mass also leads to a change of the longitudinal and lateral moments of inertia which may result in a change in the ballistic stability.